


Three's a Crowd

by sharemymadness



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: Cats, Fluff, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:01:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23435839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sharemymadness/pseuds/sharemymadness
Summary: Rafe Adler has a cat.
Relationships: Rafe Adler/Samuel Drake
Comments: 10
Kudos: 57





	Three's a Crowd

Rafe Adler had a cat.

A mean, vicious, jet-black and savage animal which seemed to despise every inch of Samuel Drake from the very hairs on his head down to the core of his bones; but a cat nonetheless. Her name was Sadie.

“Sadie?” Sam had asked upon being introduced to her for the first time. “What kind of a name is that for the animal embodiment of satan himself?” 

Evidently, their introduction hadn’t gone smoothly. She had hissed at the newcomer at her first opportunity, sinking sharp claws into his arm after Sam had so naively reached to stroke her.

Rafe had frowned at him, running delicate fingers down her spine as she had purred. “Would you prefer it if I had named her lucifer, or something equally as distasteful?”

“Well, that would surely suit it,” Sam had said, clutching sulkily at his arm.

“Her,” Rafe corrected pointedly. “Not ‘it’. And don’t try and get her to like you,” he added, briefly looking Sam up and down before he would turn on his heel to leave. “Because she won’t.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it!” Sam had called after him with a healthy dose of bravado, his eyes landing back on the cat in question who was now glaring at him through cold green eyes with a look of unfathomable hatred. Sam placed his hands on his hips and stared right back. 

And Rafe had been correct about that, amongst many other things. But the blood that coursed through Sam's veins was of the Drakes, and they didn't give up so easily. He had rather valiantly attempted to win her over at first, craving the satisfaction of proving Adler wrong, fantasising about delusory scenarios where Sadie would end up liking him better and become his cat (not that he even wanted one). He tussled with understanding how someone like Rafe Adler could have such a way with the animal when he was far more charming and likeable, if he did say so himself.

But this plan had not worked out in the way that he intended. For weeks she had hissed and bit and pounced and clawed at him at every granted opportunity, and eventually Sam decided that the pain simply wasn’t worth the satisfaction of proving Rafe wrong. 

That was before he and Rafe had become involved, (if that was the correct term for it), and now Sam found himself often staying in Rafe’s bedroom for… lengthy periods of time. This forced Sadie into the position of simply putting up with his presence, for wherever Rafe wandered she was never far, tailing the man like a second (and much scarier) shadow. She was sweet with him, of course, and Sam would watch grumpily as she stretched out next to Rafe on the bed and purred as he tapped her nose, scratched under her chin, tickled her stomach; streaks of sunlight from the large window illuminating soft fur and bringing forward indigo and midnight-blue tones from what Sam had previously regarded as merely black.

Sam had rolled his eyes on multiple occasions. Perhaps he was more than a little jealous of the creature. He simply wasn’t allowed to engage Rafe when Sadie was like this, and Rafe had looked personally offended when Sam suggested that they shut her out of the room. 

“I was hers first,” Rafe had explained dryly, scratching behind her ears. “And she doesn’t like to share.” 

“Well, neither do I.” 

Sam had felt particularly confident on this occasion, (because really, it’s just a cat! He had spent thirteen years in a Panamanian jail, for crying out loud. How bad could it possibly be?), and he had leant over Rafe, placing a hand next to his head, dangerously close to invading the space where Sadie lay and—

He had lasted approximately two seconds before the cat had pounced at his neck.

That night he had slept on the couch. 

Presently, Samuel Drake lay amongst a mountain of used tissues and various blankets on a grey Wednesday afternoon. Rafe was away on a business trip of sorts (Sam didn’t know the details, and didn’t care to know, either), however his voice was with him now, electronically, at least. He was between meetings, Rafe had explained. Called at the first opportunity. 

“You sound awful,” said Rafe from the other end. Sam adopted a rather innovative hands-free approach and sandwiched the phone between his clammy cheek and the pillow as he lay motionless on his side, feeling utterly poorly and rather sorry for himself.

“Why, thank you dear,” he croaked sarcastically. “Miss you too.”

His words were met with silence but Sam had come to know better than to expect reciprocation of such an intimate phrase. Rafe wasn’t one to use his words so freely in the same way that Sam tossed around casual (but nevertheless authentic) intimacies, and Sam had grown used to it. Rafe’s actions spoke louder than his words ever could. Sam’s eyes came to land on the black cat glaring at him from across the room who had been there since he had awoken.

“And so does Sadie,” he added.

“She’s with you?”

“Yeah. Sat on the dresser. Won’t stop staring at me.” Sam narrowed his tired eyes and did his very best to muster up the strength to match her evil glare. 

“That’s good,” replied Rafe. “I told her to look after you before I left.” 

Sam felt a warmth in his chest and despite himself he smiled stupidly, unconsciously nestling up against the phone as if it were actually Rafe and not some cold slab of inanimate metal transmitting only his voice. He allowed his eyes to slip closed, drawing in the blanket against his body, smile still present on his lips. 

“Samuel?”

“Yeah, I’m here,” he mumbled. “Not dead yet. ‘N how could I be with Sadie watching over my every breath?” 

He heard Rafe chuckle fondly. “That’s right, you’re in good hands,” he paused. “She’s been the one to look after me in worse states, anyway. She knows what she’s doing, you know.”

Sam was tempted to make a comment about how Sadie had paws, not hands, but he sensed something heavier present in Rafe’s tone that suggested that he was alluding to something much more than just a nasty cold or a bad hangover.

He peeled open his eyes to glance back to the cat and noticed how keenly she watched him, paws planted in front of her, tail swaying below. Indeed, she looked mean but… wise, perhaps? He couldn’t help but wonder what lay beyond her stark green eyes, and Sam made a mental note to tentatively broach the subject with Rafe at a later date.

But for now he hummed contentedly to himself. 

“Hearing your voice is enough of a cure anyway,” he said. “How much time do we have left before your next meeting?”

And much later, in the early hours of the following morning, Rafe returned to the sight of Sam sleeping soundly with Sadie curled up on the pillow next to his head, and he wasted no time in slipping between them, drawing himself close to Sam, and whispering a quiet “thank you” to his adored pet cat.

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this for a group chat after discussing the possibility of Rafe owning a cat. Not edited or beta'd.  
> Thank you for reading, and stay safe out there.


End file.
